A Broom Closet Surprise
by Erilyn Rose
Summary: ONESHOTfor now. What will become of two enemies when they end up stuck in a broom closet together? DMHG


A Broom Closet Surprise 

**A/N – A little one shot that just came to me one day… I hope you all enjoy it. I was thinking that, with a little work, it would make a nice **_**long**_** story… but you, the reviewers, will have to tell me for sure. Draco/Hermione. OOC, but in a good way, I promise. Now, go on, R&R!**

"Today we are going to be doing something different," Professor Snape said quietly from his spot behind his desk. His skin was starkly white against the curtain of greasy black hair that framed his face. "The Headmaster has decided that the four houses here at Hogwart's are much too segregated. I, on the other hand, believe that they are separate for a reason, however I am under obligation to follow the Headmaster's orders without question." His lip curled back in a sneer as he said this. "Therefore," he said into the dead silence of his dungeon class room, "I have been given a list which has each student in each of my classes partnered with someone from another house."

From her seat between Harry and Ron, Hermione listened to Snape speak. Her heart was suddenly thudding so loudly that she was sure Neville, who on the other side of Ron, could hear. She stared straight ahead and tried to look normal, unfortunately Harry noticed her odd behavior.

"All right Hermione?" he whispered and she nodded quickly, her face still staring straight ahead.

"This class is relatively small," Professor Snape continued. "I'm shocked that so many of you made the necessary grades to attend my seventh year Potions course." The class was, indeed, very small. On one side of the room sat Hermoine, Harry, Ron, Neville (who, only with Hermione's help, made it into the class), Ernie MacMillan, and Hannah Abbot. On the other side, which was composed entirely of Slytherin's sat Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, and none other than Draco Malfoy. IT was rather shocking that Crabbe and Goyle made it into the class. They were even worse than Neville, but Hermione suspected that it was because their parents knew Snape. "Because we have an odd number, one group will have three," he said. "Mister Weasley, Mister Crabbe, and Mister MacMillan." Snape stood as if waiting for something. "Well," he sneered, "get in your group." His voice was like ice and the three hastened to obey. Harry gave Ron an apologetic look.

"Mister Goyle, you will be paired with Mister Longbottom." The two hastily moved to stand together. "Miss Abbot, you with Mister Zabini. Potter, you'll be with Miss Parkinson. And Miss Granger," he said, another sneer appearing on his thin bloodless lips, "you will be paired with Mister Malfoy." Hermione tried to control her breathing. This is what she'd been afraid of.

Slowly Hermione packed her things and moved to stand, but before she could Draco Malfoy had already grabbed his pack and moved to her side of the room. He sat his pack down roughly and sat with a huff in Harry's vacated seat. Hermione kept her eyes straight ahead. She felt his knee bump against hers, and became even more rigid. While this played out, Harry moved to take Draco's chair next to Pansy. Ron, Crabbe, and Ernie sat at a table in front of Harry, while Neville and Blaise moved to sit in front of Hermione and Draco. Lastly, Hannah and Goyle took the remaining table in the back. No one said a word.

"Your assignment for today is on page two hundred and twenty-two. You have til the end of class to get as far as you can. If I hear a single inappropriate comment or raised voice, it will be detention. Begin!" he said, before taking his seat and leaning over a pile of essays that had been turned in as class stared. His hair fell over his eyes, blocking his class from view.

Hermione hastily took her book back out of her bag and flipped to the right page. It was a relatively simple potion, and she felt that perhaps Snape was hoping that if the students couldn't even finish something so easy, that he would have a reason to go to Dumbledore and ask that the pairings be eliminated.

"Um," she began with a shaking voice, but did not look at Malfoy, "if you'll get the cauldron ready and light the flame I'll gather the necessary ingredients." She did not wait for him to answer, and instead stood and rushed to the closet where Snape kept the things the students did not already have. She was the first one there, and had already gathered the ingredients by the time the other students had stood to retrieve theirs. She hurried back to her table, and still did not meet Malfoy's eye.

"Granger," he whispered so quietly she almost didn't hear him. Reluctantly she turned her eyes to him and he pushed a torn off corner of a piece of parchment at her. She looked down at it.

_It's going to be okay_ was all it said in his slanted handwriting. She took a shuddering breath before inking her own quill to respond.

_I know. It's just… _she sighed. _What if someone notices?_ She passed it back to him and immediately began chopping ingredients, pushing half of the pile that needed to be altered to Draco. When he'd responded to her note, and pushed it back, he took took up his knife and began chopping, cutting, and otherwise preparing for the potion.

_The only thing they'll notice is that you're acting like a psycho._ To soften these words he'd drawn a sloppy smiley face next to them. _Sneer at me. Scoot your chair away. Act like they expect you to act_. He wrote. Hermione looked at him, but this time it was he who would not meet her eye. His eyebrows were drawn and he looked sulky. She flipped the parchment over.

_But I don't want to act that way_ she wrote back. He saw this and smiled. He took the note, pushed it into the pocket of his robes, and once again began preparing the potion.

They worked in silence, passing each other ingredients. No one in the room was talking. Hermione spared a glance at Harry's table, only to see him as far from Pansy as he could be while still able to reach the cauldron. Ron wasn't much better. He and Ernie were practically on top of each other to avoid Crabbe. For a brief moment she entertained the idea of pushing her chair from Draco's as well, if only to look like her friends, but then his leg bumped hers all thoughts of moving away left her mind.

Hermione and Draco were the first to finish their potion. Snape walked up, when Draco called him, and sneered down at it. Hermoine was sure that it was perfect, and knew that the frightening teacher wanted to fail it because Hermione had helped even if Draco was involved, but could see no way around it.

"Full marks," he said after a moment. "You two may leave." He spun, his black robes billowing around him, and made his way to his desk again. Harry and Ron both looked to Hermione and gave her sad thumbs up as they reluctantly returned to their own partners. The potion was supposed to be a light orange, and smell like oranges as well. Hermione saw thick clouds of billowing green smoke coming from Ron's cauldron. Harry's was a little better, in that no smoke arose, but she could see that the surface of the liquid was red.

Without a word Hermione packed her things, again not meeting Draco's eye, and left the dungeon. She walked quickly, but stopped around the next corner. She heard the dungeon door shut and footsteps approach.

"Hermione?" the voice whispered, and she stepped out. The blonde in front of her started, and then smiled. "I take it you enjoy scaring me half to death?" he asked with a smirk.

"I really don't believe that you were scared _half to death_," she said with a smirk of her own. She thought that she was hiding the fact that her heart was about ready to explode from her chest rather well.

"Lucky we finished early huh?" he asked, his smirk suddenly gone to be replaced with appeared to be a nervous smile.

"Yeah," she said, equally nervous. "We… we should talk about this," she said as she shifted from foot to foot. Draco nodded.

"Follow me," he said, and without even thinking of disobeying she did. They didn't walk far. A few turns later and they were standing in front of a classroom door that Hermione knew hadn't been used in years. Draco pushed on it, and with a loud squeak caused by rusting hinges, went in. Hermione followed and quickly shut the door behind them. The room was dark, and Hermione lit a few candles with a nonverbal spell. The room was empty, except for a teacher's desk.

Draco went to the desk and plopped his bag down. Hermione kept hers on, gripping the strap over her shoulder tightly. For a moment neither spoke. Surprisingly, it was Hermione who broke the silence, despite her thudding heart and nervous tounge.

"I… I wasn't sure how you would react to seeing me," she said, keeping her eyes plastered to the floor.

"Is that why you've avoided me?" he asked. "I wanted to talk to you on the train, but you were with your friends," Hermione mentally noted that he did not insult Harry and Ron as usual. "Then, in the prefects meeting you wouldn't even look at me. I knew I'd see you in Potions, as it's our first class this term…" he sounded nervous, so very un-Malfoy-like.

"I've not been avoiding you," she said softly. "I just… I didn't want to make things awkward or anything." She hated that her voice was shaking.

"Hermione…" he said softly, and involuntarily her gaze was pulled up and she met the gray eyes of the Slytherin boy before her. His hands were gripping the desk too tightly to be casual, and his eyes were large, almost pleading.

"Well, I mean, this _is_ awkward Draco," she said after a moment, and he couldn't suppress a small smile.

"True," the muscles in his shoulders relaxed. "But, it doesn't have t be awkward. We could just discuss what happened." Hermione's heart began beating even more wildly.

"What happened last term…" she began, and Draco stopped her by raising his hand in the air. He stood from the desk and slowly approached her.

"Before we discuss it… before… before things change forever," he said as he came within a foot of her. Hermione stood frozen to her spot. "I need to do something…" Hermione couldn't move. "Just in case…" he waited for her to move away. When she didn't, he hesitantly leaned in, his hands at his sides, and kissed her lightly on the lips. She didn't react, she was too stunned. After a second he pulled away, and sighed. "All right, now we can talk." His voice once again sounded uncharacteristically sad.

"All… all right," she said, visibly shaken. "Last term… when we…" she couldn't seem to find the words…

FLASHBACK! It's the last day of their sixth year

Hermione ran down the hallway, her heart racing as she looked for a place to hide.

"Hermione wait!" a desperate voice called from a good way behind her. "Wait! Please!" It was Harry chasing her. Someone had slipped him a love potion, and the first person he'd seen was Hermione. He'd tried to kiss her, and she'd run. She'd been running for almost twenty minutes, and he was losing ground. Then, up ahead, she saw a close door that was ajar. Harry couldn't see her through the crowd of students in the hall. She reached the door and opened it just wide enough that she could squeeze into the small space. She didn't close it all the way, and just as it stopped moving she heard rapid footsteps approaching.

"Hermione!" Harry called, sounding frantic. She panicked for a moment, and then she heard his footsteps quickly passing the door and heading away. "Hermione! Wait!" And then all sound was gone.

Hermione stood against the wall beside the door, breathing deeply. She was just getting ready to leave when a voice spoke from her right. She jumped.

"What are you doing in here?" the cold voice said in a harsh whisper.

"Malfoy?" she asked, her breathing still not normal. "What… are _you_… doing here?" she asked between her panting.

"I asked first," he whispered back. With the light from the crack in the door she could barely make him out, standing just feet away.

"Hiding," she said as her breathing began to finally slow. "Now, you?" Before she could answer more rapid footsteps could be heard outside. They stopped just outside the door.

"I didn't find him," a male voice said. Draco inhaled sharply. Hermione opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when he was suddenly against her, holding her to the wall, one hand clamped over her mouth. She looked up, slightly fearful, into his eyes. Her eyes had adjusted enough in the dark to see that he was looking at the door, and not at her.

"We didn't either," another male voice answered. "The train leaves tomorrow morning, we'll get him before then. He'll learn that he can't just quit Quidditch after five years," the second voice said again. Without another word, the footsteps trailed off. Draco did not move until the footsteps were gone.

"What was that about?" she spat in an angry whisper as he backed away. He opened his mouth to speak when another voice broke into their conversation from behind the almost closed door.

"Come now sweet," Filch said. "We need to get some buckets. The student's will need them to clean for their detention with Professor Snape tonight," he said. Again without warning Draco grabbed Hermione, only this time he pulled her into the corner of the closet that just happened to have an array of old towels and sheets hanging as if they were drying out. Luckily they were dry, and when the door opened Hermione and Draco were hidden safely behind them. Draco again had Hermione pressed into a wall, but his hand was not over her mouth. He had his hands on her shoulders. His eyes, staring into hers, warned her not to speak.

Filch seemed to take forever, gathering buckets and sponges. Hermione didn't move, she could barely breathe. She stared, up into Draco's eyes, her heart thudding. Draco stared back down at her, his shallow breaths hitting her forhead. What seemed like hours later Filch gathered up his things, and left the closet, letting it thunk closed behind him.

Without really thinking Draco let his head thunk against the wall above and beside Hermione's head. Suddenly Hermoine realized that her hands were clutching Draco's sides, and she let them drop. She felt dizzy from trying to keep her breathing quiet, and she closed her eyes.

"That was close," he whispered into the wall, his breath managing to tickle her head. She nodded. She hadn't realized her head was against his chest, but she made no move to move it. He leaned back after a moment, looking down at her quizzically.

"You know," he whispered. Somehow speaking any louder seemed wrong at the moment. "You could have screamed, said I'd dragged you in here to torture you or something. I would have gotten in a great deal of trouble." Hermione raised on eyebrow.

"It never really crossed my mind," she whispered. It was starting to sink in just how very close to her he still was. "You… you could have done the same," she offered, and he smirked.

"I suppose it never crossed my mind either." Hermione only nodded. This close, she could smell him. She'd expected overpoweringly expensive smelling cologne, but was surprised instead to find that he smelled like cedar. She couldn't help but inhale a little more deeply than usual.

"Well, it seems like we're both in odd positions," he said. "You were running from, Potter, correct?" She nodded reluctantly. "And I was running from my team… er, ex-team." Again, she nodded. She opened her mouth to say that she needed to leave, as her head was spinning and the smell of him was making her feel very strange, when voices were again heard outside the door. Instinctively she grabbed his sides and pulled him away from the curtain separating them from the door.

"I think I saw her go in there," a girl's voice said from outside.

The door was jerked open and light spilled around their feet. Draco pushed himself into Hermione and his toes hit the wall. Luckily the sound of the door scraping open covered any noise he might have made. Hermione face was buried in Draco's shirt and his scent was almost overpowering. His hands were clasping her shoulders, and she could feel his heart thudding through the thin fabric of his cloak.

"I don't see her," Harry whined breathlessly, and the girl answered.

"I suppose it could have been another door," she said wearily, and Harry almost sobbed. With quick footsteps he left, closing the door behind him. Footsteps echoed away, and yet, neither Hemione nor Draco moved.

Finally, Draco leaned away, but this time he did not relinquish his grip on her shoulders, nor she on his waist.

"Well," Hermione whispered softly with a strange smile playing on her lips, "this is exciting," she said with wide eyes as she stared up at him. His breath caught in his throat.

"Wha… what's exciting?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for faltering.

"The thrill of being caught here, especially with you! What would people think?" she asked as her fingers squeezed his sides unconsciously.

"They'd think we'd both gone insane," Draco suggested playfully, his heart dropping a little with her words.

More footsteps sounded outside the door and Hermione and Draco pushed themselves together, but these footsteps did not stop, but continued on.

"Popular area today," she whispered into his chest as her heart raced excitedly. She couldn't help but inhale deeply again, filling her nose with his scent. It never occurred to her that it was Draco Malfoy that she was smelling.

"Yes," Draco said gruffly. She could feel his hands shaking on her shoulders. Suddenly it hit her. He was most likely disgusted with her touching him, and quickly she let him go, trying to move sideways to give him some space.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" she said, but his hands never left her shoulders.

"No," he whispered and she froze. "Don't… don't pull away." He couldn't believe he was saying this. She was never, ever, supposed to know how he felt. She was supposed to be frightened of him, but she wasn't. Perhaps it was just the excitement, as she'd said, of being caught. But something about this situation was begging Draco to act as he'd wanted to for months now.

He was surprised when her body stopped moving from his, and even inched a little bit back towards him. She looked up at him, her eyes fearful and thrilled. They were so wide. Her lips were partly slightly as her breathing, which just wouldn't seem to regulate today, became faster. It was almost more than he could take.

"You smell like cedar," she said, before her eyes opened even wider and her muscles tensed. "I… I don't know why I said that," she whispered, horrified. His hands would not stop shaking.

"It's one of my favorite smells," he admitted, his stomach fluttering and his fingers burning where they touched her. He could feel small puffs of air hitting his neck where sher breathed.

"Mine too," she said softly, her breaths coming even faster now. He couldn't help but notice that her chest was heaving, her black robes moving up and down in time with the tiny puffs of air still hitting his neck.

More footsteps, and Draco was once again pushed up against Hermione. This time her arms somehow found their way around his back as she held him to her. Again, the footsteps passed. Both heartbeats were pounding wildly. He pulled back, just a little, but she didn't let go.

"Don't pull away," she whispered almost too low to hear, echoing his words from before. He complied. His hands moved from her shoulders up to her chin. He let his hands cup her face as his long fingers were suddenly in her hair.

It was like a scene from someone else's life. Slowly, almost painfully so, Draco began to lean down. Hermione's eyes were wide as she watched him come closer. Draco kept his eyes trained on hers. At the first sign of revulsion he was going to stop. That sign never came.

Their breaths mingled before their lips ever touched. Slowly, shyly, his lips brushed hers. She inhaled slightly, only to be reward with his warm breath and the scent of cedar. He started to pull away, thinking she was shocked in a bad way, when suddenly she pushed her head forward just enough to connect their lips again.

The kiss was soft, slow, innocent. And then he pulled away. Her eyes were closed now. She was breathing deeply again, and then her eyes fluttered open. She stared up at him, confused, but not angry. He took this as motivation and closed the gap again. She responded eagerly.

This second kiss was a little more involved. Their mouths moved together, and after a moment her mouth opened inviting him in. He quickly complied as his hands moved from her face to her hair. He let his fingers get lost in the curls as he pulled her head towards him. Her hands moved from his lower back to his upper as she pulled his shoulders down towards her. She was on her toes, and he still had to lean down. Without really thinking Hermione pulled out her wand and waved it behind her. Suddenly there was a table, and Draco instantly put his hands around her waist and lifted her onto it. He didn't have to lean down so far now. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her fingers find his silky blonde hair. The feeling of her hands running through his hair was almost too much and he released her mouth, only to cover her neck with his own.

She gasped as she pulled his head more tightly to her. He let his hands roam her sides and back. Pulling her to the edge of the table to be closer to him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and let her head fall back as he kissed her neck hungrily. He let his kisses trail up her neck and over her chin before recapturing her mouth once more.

He never wanted to let her go. This was better than his best dream. Not only was he kissing her, but she was willingly kissing him back. Her kisses were just as hungry as his. Her hands on him were trying to pull him even closer, even though that would have been physically impossible. Somehow his cloak was pushed off and now rested at his feet. Her own cloak had come off a few moments before, and he his hands were now resting on her lower back beneath the pink tank top she wore. Without thinking she copied his actions and let her hands move beneath his black tee shirt, feeling the smooth toned skin beneath it on his back. He inhaled into her mouth, and if possible, pushed his lips against hers even harder. She held him to her, her fingers gently digging into his flesh. His hands gently rubbed sides and back, almost feverishly, as if he'd never touch them again.

It was at that moment that Hermione knew she was lost. If he wanted to take advantage of her, right then, he could. And she knew that she was powerless to stop it. What she didn't know, was that he was feeling the same thing. He'd wanted her for months, but now when given the opportunity he knew that he wouldn't able to move past this. If things were going to progress, she would have to be the one to do it.

Luckily, or unluckily, for them however, the decision of who would push it further, never had to be made. The closet door swung open again and both the brunette Gryffindor and the blonde Slytherin froze, pulling apart quickly.

"There there precious," wheezed Filches voice, "I suppose I was overzealous. I thought they would need more buckets than they did… ah well," he said as he clunked the buckets down and left.

Draco stared down into Hermione's wild eyes, and she up into his. The situation seemed to sink into them. Draco saw in Hermione's chocolate orbs when her panic sat in. As she released him he respectfully moved away, knowing what was next.

"Oh… I… I should go… pack… the train… tomorrow," she said as she hopped off the small table and threw her cloak over her self.

"Granger, wait," he said, unable to let her leave without saying something.

"Bye," she said with a wave over her shoulder as she bolted from the closet. Draco, after a moment, slumped against the table she'd conjured from thin air and put his head in his hands.

BLAMMO! We're back in the deserted classroom now… just thought you'd like to know.

"When we what?" he asked, his eyes curiously intense as he stared down at her.

"Well, when we… oh bloody hell, when we made out in that broom closet!" she said, a little more loudly than she intended.

"What about it?" he asked, his heart thudding wildly.

"Well… I suppose… oh… I suppose I just wanted to say I'm sorry… or something," she managed to say, her eyes unknowingly pleading with him to say something.

"Sorry?" he asked, shock written across his face. "Why?"

"Well… b-because I know that you were probably very angry after it happened, and I didn't want things to be even worse between us than they already are," she said quickly. Draco's shoulders fell.

"I thought… I thought perhaps that, after what happened, things would be better," he said dejectedly. All summer all he'd thought about was her. Her lips, her hair, the warm skin of her back and sides. The way her mouth had met him eagerly, and she'd pulled him to her as he'd wanted to her.

"Oh!" she said, her lips parted in surprise. "But I thought…"

"You thought what?" he said, his eyes looking broken. "You thought that I let you _force_ me to kiss you, and ever since I've been waiting for the chance to hex you to get back at you?" he said, his voice turning cold.

"Actually…" she thought for a moment, "No… I mean, yes that's what I should have thought, and I'll admit that's why I apologized, but honestly… no, that's not what I thought… I just thought that… maybe… you regretted…" His broken eyes were suddenly focused on her.

"Do you regret it Hermione?" he asked, stepping closer so that they were only inches apart. The sound of her name mingled with the scent of cedar, and before she could stop herself she answered.

"No," she breathed.

Draco knew, it was now or never.

Without pausing, without waiting for even a heartbeat to pass, he closed the distance between then and pulled her to him, crushing his lips against hers. With only a moment's hesitation she reciprocated his actions and let her arms wrap around his neck. Their kiss was heated. It was as if they'd never left off from the broom closet, and then suddenly, he pulled away. She heard a soft whimper escape her throat as her eyes fluttered open and she stared up into his flushed face.

"I don't regret it," he said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers. "I've wanted this for so long," he said moving to kiss her neck. "You've been in my thoughts since you left the closet," he said as he began trailed little wet kisses down her neck. He pushed her robe aside and saw that she was wear a striped tee shirt. He used his mouth to kiss through the fabric on her shoulder before returning again to her mouth. He kissed her hungrily and pulled away again. "I haven't thought about anything else," he whispered.

"What do we do now?" she asked, never letting him more than a few inches from her.

"I don't know," he admitted as he let his slightly sweaty forehead lean against hers. "But I know that I can't stand the thought of things going back to… to the way they were." She opened her mouth to speak and he covered her lips with his briefly. "I can't stand to hear you say that you want them to go back…" his gray eyes pleaded with hers and she felt her heart melt. Leaning up, she placed her lips against his before speaking.

"I don't want things to go back either," she whispered softly. That was all it took. With his arms around her waist he lifted her into the air. Her legs instinctively sought purchase around his waist as his lips captured hers.

A bell clanged, and the two students broke apart, but did not relinquish their grips on one another.

"Class," Hermione breathed and he nodded.

"Can you meet me at the end of the day?" he asked, his eyes begging her to say yes.

"Where?" she answered instantly. They were so close that his breath tickled the hair beside her face. His mouth was suddenly upon hers.

"Anywhere," he breathed as he pulled away, his forehead against hers again. He was still holding her.

"Meet me in the library after dinner. Madame Pince lets me use one of the private study rooms till well after curfew. I'll sneak you in," she said as she kissed him lightly. He nodded against her, then smirked.

"Getting quite fond of sneaking around and hiding are we?" she matched his smirk with one of her own.

"Only if it's with you," she said, before pressing her lips against his. After a moment he reluctantly sat her on the ground again.

"You go out first," he said, but not before stealing one more kiss. She nodded, and without looking back left the classroom.

Draco stood there, dizzy with happiness and adrenaline. A second bell clanged. He was late for class. He quickly grabbed his bag and ran down the corridor until he came to McGonnagal's room. He walked in slowly, his chest heaving.

"So glad you could join us Mister Malfoy," McGonnagal said haughtily. "If you'd been here on time you would know about Headmaster Dumbledore's new rule. Only inter-house partners this term. You've been paired with Miss Granger." Draco's eyes flew open wide as his gaze found Hermione, her grin held tightly in check. He made his way slowly to the empty seat beside her. He sat down and discreetly met her gaze.

She did not look back, but instead pushed a tiny scrap of parchment over to him.

_You're early_ was all it said, and he couldn't help but smile, hiding it as he rifled in his bag for his text book.

Skips to dinner in the Great Hall

"Blimey Hermione!" Ron said, as he sat down heavily across from her. "Being paired with Malfoy all day long! How did you stand it?" he asked, before piling mashed potatoes and a slab of chicken on his plate.

"Yeah," mumbled Harry. "It had to have been even worse than being paired with Parkinson, and that was almost unbearable." Hermione smirked.

"Oh, it wasn't so bad," she said. And both boys looked at her, wide eyed. "Oh, stop being so childish and eat your dinner," she scolded like an angry mother. They both quickly obeyed. It wasn't long before they'd forgotten their shock, and were totally involved in a conversation about Quidditch. She snuck a look up, across the Great Hall, and was met with the stormy grey eyed gaze of a certain Slytherin. He smiled slightly, and then stood heading straight for the Great Hall doors.

"Well," she said, standing a moment later, "I'm off to the library," she said. The two boys only nodded and waved before re-entering their conversation. Quickly, but not too quickly, Hermione made her way to the library.

"Madame Pince," she said as she walked in, and the hawk-like librarian smiled. "May I use the private study room tonight? I have so much homework," she said with a smile.

"Of course Miss Granger. But I must warn you, it seems another student is using a table nearby." Madame Pince sniffed. "It's Mister Malfoy. Will you be all right with him there?" Hermione smiled.

"I'll be fine. I may be here late though," she said and Madame Pince nodded. She took out a large brass key on a bright red loop of string and handed it to Hermione.

"Just lock up before you go."

Hermione quickly made her way to the back of the library. Sure enough, sitting at a table with his back to her was Draco.

He heard her footsteps and he turned, a smile spreading over his face.

"I thought you might have changed your mind," he whispered as she took his hand, pulling him to his feet. Without a word she dragged him into the room, and put a silencing charm on it. Madame Pince would expect nothing less if her favorite student were to get any real studying done. As soon as the door clicked shut, and was locked, Hermione turned and threw her arms around Draco's neck.

"I wouldn't have missed this for the world."


End file.
